Review of Song of the Crimson Flower by Julie C. Dao (physical arc)

 

 

Song of the Crimson Flower by Julie C. Dao

 

From the acclaimed author of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns comes a fantastical new tale of darkness and love, in which magical bonds are stronger than blood.

Will love break the spell? After cruelly rejecting Bao, the poor physician’s apprentice who loves her, Lan, a wealthy nobleman’s daughter, regrets her actions. So when she finds Bao’s prized flute floating in his boat near her house, she takes it into her care, not knowing that his soul has been trapped inside it by an evil witch, who cursed Bao, telling him that only love will set him free. Though Bao now despises her, Lan vows to make amends and help break the spell.

Together, the two travel across the continent, finding themselves in the presence of greatness in the forms of the Great Forest’s Empress Jade and Commander Wei. They journey with Wei, getting tangled in the webs of war, blood magic, and romance along the way. Will Lan and Bao begin to break the spell that’s been placed upon them? Or will they be doomed to live out their lives with black magic running through their veins?

Blog Tour for Song of the Crimson Flower by Julie C. Dao (Q&A)

 

 

I am so thrilled to be part of the Penguin blog tour for Song of the Crimson Flower by Julie C. Dao.  Thank you to Penguin Teen for sending my a physical arc of the book (come back tomorrow for my review).  Today I will be sharing my Q&A with author Julie C. Dao.

Blog Tour for Steel Tide by Natalie C. Parker (review)

 

I really loved Seafire last year, so I was thrilled when Penguin asked if I wanted to be a part of their blog tour for Steel Tide.

 

Please be aware that this is a book two, so there will be spoilers from book one below.

Blog Tour for Rules For Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall (ghost stories and legends)

 

I am so excited to be a part of Penguin’s blog tour for Rules For Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall.  I’m going to share information about the book and author.  I will also be sharing some ghost stories, lore, and legends.  I decided to find stories all in Illinois where I live to make it a bit more unique.

 

Please be aware that there will be stories of death and hauntings below.

 

Rules For Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

In the faux-documentary style of The Blair Witch Project comes the campfire story of a missing girl, a vengeful ghost, and the girl who is determined to find her sister–at all costs.

Once a year, the path appears in the forest and Lucy Gallows beckons. Who is brave enough to find her–and who won’t make it out of the woods?

It’s been exactly one year since Sara’s sister, Becca, disappeared, and high school life has far from settled back to normal. With her sister gone, Sara doesn’t know whether her former friends no longer like her…or are scared of her, and the days of eating alone at lunch have started to blend together. When a mysterious text message invites Sara and her estranged friends to “play the game” and find local ghost legend Lucy Gallows, Sara is sure this is the only way to find Becca–before she’s lost forever. And even though she’s hardly spoken with them for a year, Sara finds herself deep in the darkness of the forest, her friends–and their cameras–following her down the path. Together, they will have to draw on all of their strengths to survive. The road is rarely forgiving, and no one will be the same on the other side.

Expected publication: September 24th 2019 by Viking Books for Young Readers

 

PRE-ORDER LINK

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/606902/rules-for-vanishing-by-kate-alice-marshall/9781984837011/

Penguin Teen Unboxing

 

I’m so excited to share this unboxing with you today.  Penguin was nice enough to send this to me a few days ago.

 

 

The box is so cool, but UPS beat it up pretty bad.

Check out these debuts released by Penguin! #daringdebuts

 

Penguin was nice enough to send me these debut books, so I wanted to tell you a bit more about each of them.

 

Thank you Penguin, Harper, Wunderkind, MacMillan, and Thought Catalog Books!

 

I’ve been incredibly lucky to receive quite a few physical books from publishers lately.  So I wanted to do a special thank you post for them.

 

Macmillan:

 

Blog Tour for Ziggy, Stardust, and Me by James Brandon (David Bowie Playlist)

I’m so happy to be a part of Penguin Teen’s blog tour for some of their fall debuts.  I chose Ziggy, Stardust, and Me by James Brandon so I could make a playlist of David Bowie songs.  I just got the book in, so I haven’t had a chance to read it yet.  So the playlist is just random Bowie songs I like.  I hope you enjoy the list!

 

 

Ziggy, Stardust, and Me by James Brandon

 

The year is 1973. The Watergate hearings are in full swing. The Vietnam War is still raging. And homosexuality is still officially considered a mental illness. In the midst of these trying times is sixteen-year-old Jonathan Collins, a bullied, anxious, asthmatic kid, who aside from an alcoholic father and his sympathetic neighbor and friend Starla, is completely alone. To cope, Jonathan escapes to the safe haven of his imagination, where his hero David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and dead relatives, including his mother, guide him through the rough terrain of his life. In his alternate reality, Jonathan can be anything: a superhero, an astronaut, Ziggy Stardust, himself, or completely “normal” and not a boy who likes other boys. When he completes his treatments, he will be normal—at least he hopes. But before that can happen, Web stumbles into his life. Web is everything Jonathan wishes he could be: fearless, fearsome and, most importantly, not ashamed of being gay.

Jonathan doesn’t want to like brooding Web, who has secrets all his own. Jonathan wants nothing more than to be “fixed” once and for all. But he’s drawn to Web anyway. Web is the first person in the real world to see Jonathan completely and think he’s perfect. Web is a kind of escape Jonathan has never known. For the first time in his life, he may finally feel free enough to love and accept himself as he is.

A poignant coming-of-age tale, Ziggy, Stardust and Me heralds the arrival of a stunning and important new voice in YA.

Q&A With Author Isabel Sterling (These Witches Don’t Burn)

 

I’m so excited to have author Isabel Sterling here today answering some questions for my readers.  These Witches Don’t Burn is one of my most anticipated releases for 2019.  I’ll share a bit about the book first and then there will be the Q&A section.

 

Blog Tour (part two) for Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish (favorite things about Puerto Rico by Pablo Cartaya)

 

 

Welcome to part two of my blog tour for Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish.  Please make sure you check yesterday’s post for info about the book, author, and my review.

 

Today I’m sharing a guest post by author Pablo Cartaya.  I asked if he could share his favorite things about Puerto Rico and this is what I got back.  Thank you Pablo!